Accelerator Physics course

Sponsoring University:

Arizona State University

Course:

Accelerator Physics

Instructors:

Lee C. Teng (Ret) and Vadim Sajaev, Argonne National Laboratory

Purpose and Audience
This is a graduate-level course intended to instruct the students in the physics and technology of particle accelerators. This course is designed for graduate students pursuing accelerator physics as a career or graduate engineers who have been working with particle accelerators and wanting to learn more in detail about how the particle beam is accelerated.

PrerequisitesClassical Mechanics and Electrodynamics, and the USPAS course "Accelerator Fundamentals" or the equivalent. Mathematics: Proficiency with algebra, calculus and analytical geometry.

Objectives
On completion of this course, the students are expected to understand the operations of accelerators of all types and the workings of their components. They will be able to quantitatively analyze the dynamics of the beam, thereby to conceptually design accelerators to accelerate particle beams to desired characteristics. They may also be capable of designing the hardware components of the accelerators.

Instruction Method
This course includes a series of 15 3-hour lectures and 3 computer-lab periods to introduce students to computer simulations and methods. Homework problems will be assigned daily which will be graded and used as a part of the final grades. An instructor will be available for discussion at all times.

Course Content
All types of accelerators will be discussed. This includes: electrostatic accelerators, induction accelerators, linear rf accelerators, circular accelerators with both fixed and ramped magnetic field, and both CG and AG focusing. Special function accelerators such as linear and circular colliders, and synchrotron radiation storage rings will also be discussed. Beam physics topics in these accelerators include beam formation, beam confinement and guidance, and beam acceleration. Also studied are beam intensity limitations caused by coherent instabilities due to interactions of the beam field with the beam environment: the vacuum electron cloud and residual gas molecules, and the conducting vacuum chamber wall. If time permits, physics problems involved in the design, the fabrication and the operation of major accelerator components could also be discussed.